Swimmer&#39;s gloves



July 19, 1966 E M. OLSON SWIMMERS GLOVES Filed Oct. 14, 1963 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. E VERE 77' M OLSON ATTOR/i'j? United States Patent 3,261,040SWIMMERS GLOVES Everett M. Olson, 3535 Olsen Drive, San Jose, Calif.Filed Oct. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 315,786 3 Claims. (Cl. 9-308) Thisinvention relates to plastic swimmers gloves in general. Moreparticularly this invention relates to a plastic swimmers glove whichleaves the thumb free.

An object of this invention is to provide a plastic swimmers glove madeof a material that sticks to the swimmers fingers even when wet and wontaccidentally slip off.

Another object of this invention is to provide a swimmers glove whichwhen pulled on the hand forms a tight fit and once in place will notslip off even when the swimmer is handling objects under water.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved plasticswimmer's glove shaped so that one embodiment thereof will snugly fit arange of hand sizes.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved plasticswimmers glove in which the openings for the fingers are open at bothends so that water may be released from the finger holes when the gloveis being applied to the hand under water.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved plasticswimmers glove that is made of very light and pliable material so thatit may be easily transported and folded into a small wad into a standardpocket of the swimmers suit.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved plasticswimmers glove that is shaped so that it may be applied either to theleft hand or to the right hand.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which it relates from the [followingspecification, claims and drawing.

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a plastic swimmersglove of simple design that is made of two superposed sheets of suitableplastic such as vinyl. The side edges of these two sheets of superposedplastic are heat sealed as are also the web portions between thefingers. Thus suitable finger holes are provided between the superposedsheets for the four fingers of the hand and the thumb of the hand isleft free. The glove is formed so that it forms a web over the fourfingers and therebetween so as to provide a surface that may bestretched out when the fingers are spread apart.

The outer ends of the finger holes are left open so that when the gloveis being pulled over the fingers of the hand Water is not trapped in thefinger holes. Also, the webs between the fingers need not extend all theway into the crotches between the fingers so that the plastic formingthe finger holes may be drawn over the fingers until it snugly engagesthe fingers without interference [from the webs. The finger holes aresubstantially uniformly spaced whereby the glove may be worn on eitherthe left hand or the right hand. The swimmers thumb is also left free sothat a swimmer wearing these gloves may easily handle such objects asboat oars and swimmers accessories as well as objects under water.

Further features and details of this invention will be set forth in thespecification, claims and drawing in which briefly:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a glove of this invention shown applied to aswimmers hand; which is shown in broken outline, the four fingers of theswimmers hand being spread apart to show the webs between the fingers;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

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Referring to the drawing in detail, there is shown in FIG. 1 a plan Viewof a swimmers glove made of light and pliable plastic material such asvinyl or polyethylene adapted to be worn over the four fingers of eitherthe right or left hand 10 leaving the thumb free. This glove is made oftwo overlying plastic sheets '11 and 12 and the edge portions =13 and 14of these sheets are heat sealed or cemented together a short distance sothat these edge portions provide strong, narrow flaps along the sides ofthe gloves. Also the plane between the sheets 11 and 12 forms a plane ofsymmetry of the glove so that the glove may be worn either on the righthand or the left hand. This is an advantage to a swimmer particularlywhere he desires to put the gloves on while swimming under water.

Double thickness web portions 15 and .16 and '17 are formed by heatsealing or cementing together the areas of the sheets 11 and 12 that arebetween the finger holes 18, 19, 20 and 21. Thus the web portion 15 isprovided between the finger holes 18 and 19, web portion 16 is providedbetween finger holes 19 and 20, and web portion 17 is provided betweenfinger holes 20 and 21. These web portions are all of substantially thesame area and shape so that the finger holes are spaced apartsubstantially equally. Thus the glove is shaped so that it may be worneither upon the right hand or upon the lefthand and finger holes 18 and21 are each adapted to receive either the forefinger or the littlefinger of the hand. In this way, the swimmer does not have to examinethe glove to determine which hand it is prior to wearing it.

The finger holes 18, 19, 20 and 21 are each tapered so that the outerends 18a, 19a, 20a and 21a thereof respectively are the small endsthereof. These small ends are open and water cannot be trapped in thefinger holes when the glove is being pulled onto the hand. The taperedfinger holes provide for a snug fit therein of the swimmers fingerssince the light and pliable plastic clings to and conforms to the shapesof the fingers. The glove may be applied to the hand simply by grippingthe portion 22 with the other hand and pulling it over the fingers untilthe fingers engage the inner walls of the finger holes snugly.Thereafter the glove sticks to the wearers skin even when wet and willnot slip off. Also with this construction a glove of one size may beapplied to hands of different sizes as long as the crotch portions 18b,19b and 20b thereof do not engage the corresponding crotch portionsbetween the fingers of the swimmers hand so as to prevent the glovefinger holes from fitting the swimmers fingers closely.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will beunderstood that the invention is capable of variation and modificationfrom the form shown so that its scope should be limited only by thescope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. A swimmers glove made of two sheets of light and pliable plasticmaterial that are overlaid and extend over the four outstretched fingersof the swimmers hand leaving the thumb free, said overlaid sheets beingjoined together along opposite edge portions so that these edge portionsform strong narrow flaps, web portions formed by joining said sheetsbetween adjacent finger receiving portions, said web portions being ofV-shape and substantially uniform size and said finger receivingportions being tapered so that the swimmers fingers are adapted to beinserted therein far enough so that the light, pliable plastic sheetmaterial conforms to the shape of the fingers and clings thereto evenwhen wet, corresponding parts of said finger receiving portions alsobeing uniformly spaced so that the glove will fit either on the left orthe right hand.

2. A swimmers glove made of two sheets of light and pliable plasticmaterial that are overlaid and extend over the four outstretched fingersof the swimmers hand leaving the thumb free, said overlaid sheets beingsealed together along opposite edge portions so that these edge portionsform strong double thickness narrow flaps, web portions formed bysealing said sheets between adjacent finger receiving portions, said webportions being of V-shaped and substantially uniform size and saidfinger receiving portions being tapered and open at the smaller outerends thereof so that the swimmers fingers are adapted to be insertedtherein far enough so that the light, pliable plastic sheet materialconforms to the shape of the fingers and clings thereto even when wet,corresponding parts of said finger receiving portions also beinguniformly spaced so that the glove will fit either on the left or theright hand.

3. A swimmers glove made of two sheets of light and pliable plasticmaterial that are overlaid and extend over the four outstretched fingersof the swimmers hand leaving the thumb free, said overlaid plasticsheets being heat sealed together along opposite edge portions so thatthese edge portions form strong narrow flaps of double thickness of theplastic material, web portions formed by heat sealing said sheetstogether between adjacent finger receiving portions, said web portionsbeing of V-shaped and substantially uniform size and said fingerreceiving portions being tapered and open at the smaller outer endsthereof so that the swimmers fingers are adapted to be inserted thereinfar enough so that the light, pliable plastic sheet material conforms tothe shape of the fingers and clings thereto even when wet, correspondingparts of said finger receiving portions also being uniformly spaced sothat the glove will fit either on the left or the right hand.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,684,714- 9/1928Perry 9308 2,692,995 11/1954 Bihan 9-308 2,845,628 8/1958 Dell 2-203,063,070 11/ 1962 Nichol 9-308 FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Primary Examiner.

A. E. CORRIGAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A SWIMMMER''S GLOVE MADE OF TWO SHEETS OF LIGHT AND PLIABLE PLASTICMATERIAL THAT ARE OVERLAID AND EXTEND OVER THE FOUR OUTSTRETCHED FINGERSOF THE SWIMMER''S HAND LEAVING THE THUMB FREE, SAID OVERLAID SHEETSBEING JOINED TOGETHER ALONG OPPOSITE EDGE PORTIONS SO THAT THESE EDGEPORTIONS FROM STRONG NARROW FLAPS, WEB PORTIONS FORMED BY JOINING SAIDSHEETS BETWEEN ADJACENT FINGER RECEIVING PORTIONS, SAID WEB PORTIONSBEING OF V-SHAPED AND SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM SIZE AND SAID FINGERRECEIVING PORTIONS BEING TAPERED SO THAT THE SWIMMER''S FINGERS AREADAPTED TO BE INSERTED THEREIN FAR ENOUGH SO THAT THE LIGHT, PLIABLEPLASTIC SHEET MATERIAL CONFORMS TO THE SHAPE OF THE FINGERS AND CLINGSTHERETO EVEN WHEN WET, CORRESPONDING PARTS